Call to promote PE in schools

THERE is a need for schools in Fiji to promote physical education in order to fully address non-communicable diseases (NCDs) crisis.

This was said by the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts, Alison Burchell, during the Fiji Principals Association conference in Suva last week.

She said schools needed to intervene by staying committed to life-long movement.

“I also talk about physical literacy because if we’re going to be able to make some kind of intervention into our NCDs crisis, we need to start in the schools in terms of inculcating a commitment to life-long movement,” Ms Burchell said.

Ms Burchell, who is also the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, said students needed to be active on a daily basis.

“We actually need a process where people go through physical education and they understand skills and movements,” she said.

“It’s about having a period of movement every day, taking part in physical activity that raises the heartbeat.”